Metal News for April 8, 2007

We post metal news every day, throughout the day, covering thousands of metal bands including underground and unsigned bands. You are currently browsing the news archive, but you can also find news by band.

40 BELOW SUMMER released “The Last Dance” last October which includes nine new tracks as well as a 90-minute bonus DVD of the band's last performance at the Starland Ballroom as well as interviews with the bandmembers.

There are also a live video available on the UVTV website (same URL as above) of 40 BELOW SUMMER performing “Taxicab Confessions” that was filmed at The Country Club in Syracuse NY.

DAN SWANO To Produce New Band Featuring PESTILENCE, GOREFEST, THANATOS Members ~Swedish producer/multi-instrumentalist Dan Swano (EDGE OF SANITY, INFESTDEAD) has agreed to mix/produce the upcoming demo/CD from HAIL OF BULLETS, the new band featuring THANATOS guitarists Stephan Geb?di and Paul Baayens, former PESTILENCE/ASPHYX singer Martin Van Drunen, GOREFEST drummer Ed Warby, and former HOUWITSER bass player Theo van Eekelen. The recordings will take place in June/July and the band hopes to have it all finished before the end of the summer.

Geb?di previously stated about the group's upcoming CD, "We trust it will be a classic death metal album in more than one way. The material we've written so far is very strong stuff ranging from slow, doomy parts to the occasional blast beat. Funny thing to mention is that drummer Ed Warby has written most of the guitar riffs so far."

The reunited "Remnants of War"-era lineup of HELSTAR shared the stage with TESTAMENT Tuesday, March 27, at the Scout Bar in Houston, Texas.

Commented HELSTAR bassist Jerry Abarca: "This show was GREAT!!! Sold out... You had to walk on top of people just to get anywhere. If you missed it, maybe next time. HELSTAR made an official announcement last night. HELSTAR will be recording a new album. This year!!! And will be shopping for a great label. We did play a new one for the crowd and it was a frenzy of madness. To be all honest it was it was a madhouse and of course I had to come to work today. I was well worth it. Thanks for everyone's time and we hope to see you in the near future..."

Forgotten Empire Records has announced the signing of UK ambient/shoegaze project The Comanche Sigh and Texas experimental/metal giant The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. "Both bands expand our roster in creative and experimental music to new heights! The Comanche Sigh are ambient and completely beautiful, while The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is a complete and breathtaking display of experimental metal," states the label. There upcoming albums will be released soon, with exact dates yet to be released.

As I Lay Dying has reportedly found a replacement for departed bassist Clint Norris. Recently joining the band was Josh Gilbert of Oceanside, CA. Gilbert previously played guitar for All In (Hand Of Hope Records) and is currently with As I Lay Dying in the studio as the band records a new album.

Massachusetts' On Broken Wings (Eulogy Recordings) has announced plans to disband for an indeterminate amount of time as they focus on other priorities. Here's a statement from the band:

"We have decided to take an indefinite hiatus to work on all the other bands/things we have going on in our lives. We did a lot of tours, played a lot of shows, met a lot of good people, and grew up a lot.

"We all have new bands, some of us more than 1, some of us more than 2 or 3, haha. We will be playing a few farewell shows, so be on the lookout for updates. Our farewell to the West Coast show will be at the Earth Crisis reunion in Ventura, CA on May 5th. This means CA, Vegas, Arizona... move it.

"Make sure you check out all the other projects [Shere Khan, The Confrontation, Everbody Out, etc.] we're working on until we feel like On Broken Wings is ready for new material."

Maintain Records welcome Forever It Shall Be with the following message:

"After a small odyssey, Europe's most hopeful band in melodic metal finally signs with Maintain Records. The Album "Reluming The Embers" will be released in June 2007. All fans of bands such as Trivium, Hatesphere, Heaven Shall Burn or In Flames should watch out for this upcoming great piece of Metal. "Reluming The Embers" will burn your mind. You can now download a free mp3 of the track "Can't Stop The Bleeding" from the bands and label'smyspace profile and website. You can also listen to the track "Love Lost", available on the bands myspace profile. Keep it Burning!"

Montreal, Quebec-based extreme metallers A PERFECT MURDER have parted ways with bassist Francois-Michel Labrie and are currently seeking a replacement. Interested parties can contact the group via their official web site.

Labrie has issued the following statement regarding his decision to leave the group:

"Before I joined the band, I had the chance to grab a university degree. I put a hard time and money into this. Lately, I have been offered to work in the field I have been studying for the last years. This offer has so many advantages that I just could not refuse it. I must also say that playing in a band on a full time basis like A PERFECT MURDER was getting more difficult for me. Everybody knows how rough it is to make a living out of music, and I must admit that I had a rough time mixing the band and doing shitty jobs to be able to pay for a rent, bills and everything related to a decent living. All of this means that I can't dedicate myself a 100% to the band anymore, so leaving is the best option, for myself as well as for the band.

"I want to thank Carl, Yan, Kyrill, Kevin and everybody who has been involved in A PERFECT MURDER. The last two years have been the most incredible time of my life. I will keep good memories out of it, and I wish the band will get the success it deserves with the next record, which is an amazing record, by the way. Also, I have a special thought for the parents of Carl, Mr. and Mrs. Bouchard. Thank you for everything you've done for the band.

"I would like to thank my family, my girlfriend and my friends for their never-ending love and support through all those years. My last thought goes to each and every fan of A PERFECT MURDER all around the world who supported the band in any way. I had an amazing blast playing in front of you guys. Now, it is just time for me to move on to another step in my life. But once again, thanks for all the great moments."

Swedish heavy metal masters LION'S SHARE will film a video for the song "The Edge of the Razor" on April 15 in Stockholm. The track features a guest solo from Bruce Kulick (KISS), and comes off the group's comeback album, "Emotional Coma," which is scheduled for release on June 15 through AFM Records. You can check out the cover artwork at lionsshare.org.

According to a press release, "Emotional Coma" is "the heaviest and most powerful LION'S SHARE record to date" and it features guest appearances by Kulick, Glen Drover (MEGADETH) and Mats Levén (THERION, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN). The band features guitar player and founding member Lars Chriss, along with vocalist Patrik Johansson (ASTRAL DOORS, WUTHERING HEIGHTS), bass player Sampo Axelsson (GLENN HUGHES) and well-known session drummer Richard Evensand (CHIMAIRA, SOILWORK, THERION).

VELVET REVOLVER has been confirmed for the U.S. Virgin Festival, scheduled for August 4-5 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Also slated to appear are THE POLICE, SMASHING PUMPKINS and the BEASTIE BOYS. More lineup announcements and information about ticket sales are expected over the coming weeks.

VELVET REVOLVER will launch live assault with a six-date swing through South America beginning April 10 at the Pista Atletica in Santiago, Chile and wrapping up April 20 at Parque Metropolitano Simon Bolivar in Bogota, Columbia.

Next up is the 11-city U.S. leg of the tour, which kicks off May 4 at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, CA, and will make stops at a number of hot clubs and theatres around the country including San Francisco's Warfield Theatre, Chicago's Riviera Theatre and the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., before finishing off May 22 at the Nokia Theatre Times Square in New York.

In June, the band will head to Europe for 17 dates with heavy emphasis on festival appearances including Rock Im Park and Rock Am Ring in Germany, Sweden's Hultsfred Festival, Fields Of Rock in the Netherlands and Monsters Of Rock in Spain.

Legendary California metallers ARMORED SAINT will play at Viper Room in Hollywood on May 19. This will be a warm-up gig for the band's appearance at this year's edition of the Rock Hard Festival, which will be held May 25-27 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Other bands scheduled to perform at the Rock Hard Festival include AMON AMARTH, DARK FUNERAL, DEATH ANGEL, GRAVE DIGGER, HAMMERFALL, PAUL DI'ANNO, ROSS THE BOSS and THIN LIZZY.

ARMORED SAINT played a number a European and U.S. dates last summer, some of which were taped for the band's upcoming live DVD. It is not presently clear if plans exist for the group to begin work on a new studio album. ARMORED SAINT's last CD, "Revelation", came out in 2000 on the Metal Blade label.

Swiss melodic metallers EMERALD entered a studio in Aue, Germany on February 10 to begin recording their fourth album, entitled "Hymns to Steel". The band has issued the following update:

"Due to a bad infection, EMERALD singer Jvo [Julmy] could not record his vocals during the recording sessions in Aue. Besides the vocals, EMERALD finished the recordings for the new album 'Hymns to Steel'. The vocals will be recorded within the next weeks at Farpoint Studio, Switzerland. The release of the new album has been postponed to August/September 2007.

"Some good news: a new concert has been confirmed. EMERALD will support SABATON and THUNDERBOLT on their European Tour for the concert in Switzerland at the Rock City, Uster. Be there on May 29, 2007." More...

SOULFLY guitarist Marc Rizzo will play a concert to welcome home the India 3/12 Artillery Battery Marines of Camp Lejume in Jacksonville, North Carolina from their recent tour of duty in Iraq. The troop is familiar with Marc as SOULFLY has played for them before on their base in North Carolina. The details of the concert, which is open to the public, are as follows:

Baltimore, Maryland-based metallers MISERY INDEX have issued the following update:

"Greets! We are back from our tour with ORIGIN, NECROPHAGIST and BURNING SKIES/DISKREET, and it was an amazing time. Thanks to all of you for coming out and supporting us. We are also pleased to announce the first round of dates for our return to Europe which will include some appearances at the following festivals, with even more to be announced soon:

Also, we are presently booking club dates for a limited run tour in June (14th to 28th) with our brothers in DEW SCENTED and COLDWORKER. More dates will come as they are confirmed, including a headlining run of dates through Eastern Europe in July.

Out-of-this-world monster metallers GWAR have posted the following update:

“Gwar, the most devastating and dominant force in Gwar history, gleefully vomits buckets of black bile as they announce their headlining slot on this year’s Sounds Of The Underground summer festival tour! Oderus, ruler of Earth, or at least the naughty bits, commands all humans to ritually mutilate their pets genitals and swear eternal allegiance to Gwar and to metal and attend what will go down in history as the greatest, grossest Gwar show ever! And after 20-plus years of providing the sickest show in rock history, Gwar stands ready to top even themselves! Returning from the bowels of the abyss, GWAR has the very legions of hell at their command, slavering to decimate all those who fail to appease their boundless wrath! Hail Gwar!”

Australian metallers I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN have called it a day. In a statement announcing their decision to go separate ways, the band write, "The final nail in the coffin came when Jona was asked to join USA metal group BLEEDING THROUGH as second guitarist. This, coupled with our inability to find a replacement vocalist, aided the decision to end the band.

"We would all like to sincerely thank all our friends and family and our label's Stomp, Metal Blade, Golf and Howling Bull Records for their ongoing support of IKTPQ and most of all we would like to thank all the fans that made the last seven years the most amazing years of our lives. We feel that we made a good impact on the Australian and worldwide music scenes. We also apologise for the cancellation of our USA tour dates.

"The band will announce a final farewell Australian tour in the coming months."

To read individual statements from the I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN bandmembers regarding their decision to call it a day, visit their MySpace page.

"It should be a great introductory tour for us. Anyone into the more classic sound of Tampa metal will be pleased for sure. We're definitely excited for people to hear our material. We're also anticipating the crowd going nuts when we break out some old Massacre classics! This is Kam's big return to Europe after all, so we're going to make it special."

"NECROPHAGIST is excited to announce drumming phenomenon and luminary Marco Minnemann as the new permanent drummer. Marco will start playing drums for NECROPHAGIST on the upcoming Summer Slaughter Tour starting June 1st 2007, sponsored by Ibanez, Tama and Revolver mag. The band is absolutely stoked to announce that Marco Minnemann will be drumming on the NEW NECROPHAGIST album, due in 2008. We can't wait to work on arranging the new songs with such an incredibly talented, proficient and complete musician/composer. The list of musicians Marco collaborated with throughout his impressive career includes, but is not limited to, legends such as Paul Gilbert, Mike Keneally, Allan Holdsworth, Terry Bozzio, Chad Wackerman etc. To check out Marco's playing or gather more info about him please visit www.myspace.com/marcominnemann. Also for the first time, NECROPHAGIST will be performing the last album 'Epitaph' in its entirety on the upcoming Summer Slaughter Tour, an event you can't afford to miss!"

Danish metallers IRON FIRE, who are fronted by FORCE OF EVIL singer Martin Steene, have completed work on their fourth album, "Blade of Triumph", due on June 29 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and in the rest of Europe on July 2 via Napalm Records. A song from the new album, entitled "Bridges Will Burn", is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page.

"Blade of Triumph" is the follow-up to "Revenge", which was released in March 2006 via Napalm.

In other news, IRON FIRE will support KAMELOT on May 17 at The Rock in Copenhagen, Denmark.